


Thinking Out Loud

by longwayfromhome



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, tumblr ficlets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2209866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longwayfromhome/pseuds/longwayfromhome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...that maybe we found love right where we are. [Tumblr inspired ficlets]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Finally decided to put all of my ficlets in one single place. They range in length/style/genre but I'll be posting them all here from now on :)

Chris was sitting in the small kitchenette of his rented apartment in Boston when Zach came out of his bedroom wearing only a pair of Chris’s pajama bottoms and snuck a brightly colored package under his nose. 

"What’s this?" 

"You really are slow this morning Christopher. Didn't think I’d tired you out so much last night." Chris just rolled his eyes and pulled the other man’s chin down to kiss him softly. "It’s your birthday present dummy." 

Chris put the newspaper he’d been reading down, and grabbed for the present instead as Zach buried his nose in the crook between his shoulder and neck. “You really shouldn't have bothered Zach,” he said as he tried to peel back the tape holding the neatly wrapped present together. “I thought we’d agreed on no presents this year.” 

"Yeah, I know but this is actually something you…don’t have.” Zach kissed his jaw and then pulled away to grab a glass from the counter.

Chris looked confused for a moment, but Zach just grinned at him. Feeling impatient he gave on the tape and tore at the red wrapping paper to open the box underneath it. “I hope this isn't a lead in for gifting me some kind of crazy sex t…socks? Twelve pairs of ridiculously colored socks?” 

Zach’s smile widened before he started laughing right out. “Yeah well, we need to protect your dainty, princess ankles from the upcoming Boston autumn.” 

"You asshole!" 

Zach was still cackling as he evaded the the stripped pair of socks Chris threw his way. Chris ended sleeping with those socks on for the entire winter he spent in New York that year and Zach tried not to feel too smug.


	2. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the little bruises and cuts that show up on your body seemingly out of nowhere are actually little injuries that happened to your soul mate.

Chris is thirteen the first time he breaks his left leg. Breaks, being the key word here though, because he is sitting at home eating dinner with his family when a strong pain shoots down his left leg. It's so strong that he passes out and his parents rush him to the emergency room. When they take X-rays, they find that his leg is broken in two places. Nobody believes him when he says he hadn’t hurt himself accidentally. 

The next time he feels the phantom pain he’s sixteen. For the past couple years the pain has been mostly quiet. Sometimes a mysterious bruise or scrape will appear on his skin, nothing he would have remembered actually getting, but there they were anyways. He’d stopped paying attention to it a while ago and just accepted that it was something that happened occasionally. It was never as severe as it had been the first time. On this occasion however, he’s pouring over his geometry textbook, trying to make sense of the numbers when a stabbing pain bursts over his right eye. Chris closes his eyes in agony, and when he raises his right hand to the area, it comes away wet with blood. He goes to look at himself in the mirror and he’s surprised to see what appears to be an eyebrow piercing. His parents ground him for three weeks when they see the piercing, never mind the fact that Chris doesn’t know where it came from and wasn’t actually planning on putting a ring through it or anything. 

He’s seventeen the first time he wakes up and goes to the bathroom to take a shower and sees a different type of bruise. He feels somewhat sore, so naked, he sleepily turns to look at himself on the mirror. There’s bruises on his hips, and if Chris didn’t know better he’d say they looked like bruises he would get from being held down while getting fucked. He blushes and shakes his head. If he takes longer than usual on his shower that morning, well, that’s his business. 

The bruises appear on and off for the next years. He collects enough scrapes on his own well enough already, which makes it easier to ignore. Chris doesn’t even bat an eyelid when what looks like a faded tattoo appears on his left arm accompanied with burning pain. Chris stops thinking about it, but he’s heard the stories about how this sometimes happens to people. How the bruises that appear without cause are actually injuries that happened to your soul mate. He thinks it’s a load of bull, and if is true, well, he hopes his soul mate is okay. He’s always been a little bit clumsy and has the scars to show for it. 

He meets Zach a couple of years later, during the casting process for Trek. He’s seen him around several times and they share the same trainer, but they’ve never had the chance to talk to each other. They hit it off immediately and their chemistry is one of the reasons they are casted opposite each other. 

The more time they spend with each other, the more comfortable Chris feels around Zach. He hasn’t connected with anyone like this in quite a while, and even though Chris is no stranger to being attracted to men, he’s never actually done anything about it. Knowing that the film depends a lot on the rapport he and Zach are able to build between them, Chris is happy to keep his attraction to himself and convinces himself that it’ll pass like it always does. He should have known better. 

The first day on set, everyone in costume, Chris hears Zach call his name and ask something about the scene they’re about to film together. When he raises his eyes from his script to see Zach made up into Spock, eyebrows and all, his heart stops. 

Zach has a piercing scar over his right eyebrow. 

Chris stands up slowly, and Zach gives him a confused look. Chris just shakes his head and approaches Zach. He thumbs the edge of the blue science shirt he’s wearing, pulling it up slightly just enough so that Zach can understand what he’s asking permission for. Zach shrugs his shoulders and raises his eyebrow in question, emphasizing the scar. Chris pulls the shirt to expose a strip of skin above Zach’s pants, and there it is. The same scar Chris has on his own side that he got when he was fifteen and was still on the baseball team. He traces his finger over the raised skin and Zach shivers. When Chris tugs his own shirt upwards to show his matching scar, Zach’s jaw drops. 

Their eyes meet. It appears they have a lot to talk about, but nobody can blame Chris if he pulls Zach close to kiss him square on the lips first.


	3. Warm

"That water still hot?”

Zach put his phone down on the bathroom counter and then turned to stare at a sleepy looking Chris. “Yes, I just got in like five minutes ago. Sorry I woke you.” He’d just returned from a long shoot at set, and he had tried to be as quiet as possible when he spied the Chris asleep on the bed. When he saw the huge tub in the bathroom, he hadn’t been able to help himself and drew himself a warm bath. He was so sore.

Chris made a noncommittal sound and proceeded to remove his shirt. Zach licked his lips at the newly revealed skin. “No problem. I couldn’t sleep anyways. I fucking hate jetlag.”

Zach leaned his head back against the edge of the tub again. “That’s the only reason why?”

Now completely naked, Chris stepped into the tub carefully, sat in Zach’s lap and leaned against his chest. “You know what the biggest reason is, you fucker.”

Zach snorted softly, wrapped his arms around Chris’s waist and buried his nose in the crook between Chris’s neck and shoulder. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

Chris relaxed into Zach’s embrace. “Tired?”

“I fucking hate night shoots,” he answered mimicking Chris’s words from before.

“Not many left, right?” He wiggled teasingly in Zach’s lap.

“Behave, I don’t think I have the energy.” He placed a soft kiss on Chris’s warm skin.“Yes, but I’d do night shoots for the rest of my life if it meant coming home to this.”

“You, flatterer, you.” He entwined their fingers together, squeezing Zach’s hands in affection. He smiled. “I love you.”

It was quiet between them after that, both feeling content. They didn’t often have moments like this one, especially lately, so they just enjoyed each other’s presence and exchanged soft caresses. After a while, the water started turning cold.

“Bed?”

Chris nodded and pulled away from Zach’s embrace to climb out of the tub. He reached down to help Zach out, knowing he was still sore. He took one of the white, fluffy towels sitting on the counter, and gently started patting Zach dry. Chris loved these moments, when Zach allowed him to take care him, so he took his time. It was normally the other way around, so he relished any opportunity he had to do things like these. When he was done, he dried himself off quickly and headed into the bedroom to turn down the covers as Zach washed his teeth. He sat down on the edge of the bed to wait for him.

Zach closed the door to the bathroom, walked towards him leaned down and kissed Chris softly, breaking off from his mouth to place kisses on his stubbly cheeks as well. Chris nuzzled him back and after a moment climbed naked into bed, laid onto his side and pulled Zach to curl against his back.

Warm and content, they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Zach's bathtub Instagram photo earlier this year.


	4. Kindling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I keep setting my kitchen stove on fire and you’re the long suffering firefighter on call" AU. From [here](URL)

Zach scratched at his neck sheepishly as Chris gave a look around his kitchen to make sure the fire was really out. “I swear I don’t know how this keeps on happening.”

"What were you trying to cook this time?" The rest of the squad had already filed out of Zach’s apartment, Chris staying behind to do the last checks.

"Uh…Nonna’s lasagna?" Zach stared at the firefighter-turned-friend as he sat his kitchen table that was still covered with the ingredients he’d used to make said lasagna. The other man was concentrated on checking his stove, jacket now off, exposing his freckly arms.

Chris shook his head pushed a hand through his hair, laughing. “I thought we’d agreed you’d stay away from complicated things and stick to grilled cheese and soup-from-a-can?”

"Well yeah, but this isn’t _technically_ complicated. Nonna has been making us this for years. I called her and she gave me the recipe and it seemed easy enough.” Zach was distracted when Chris bent down to look into the blackened oven. It wasn’t his fault his pants pulled tightly…at certain areas of Chris’ body. “Just didn’t count on the fact that my oven does indeed hate me.”

"We’d also agreed everything cooking related was complicated for you. I think this is the fifth time in the last two months? You’ll hurt yourself if you’re not careful." He turned to look at him now, blue eyes earnest and concerned.

"I know, I know, but I was feeling homesick and nothing sounded better than homemade lasagna."

Chris eyes softened. “Better order in next time then, or you’ll end up giving your Nonna a heart attack when she figures you’ve managed to set your kitchen on fire for the tenth time while trying to make her lasagna.”

"No lasagna is like her secret recipe though." Chris just laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners and Zach couldn’t help but grin too, heart racing as their conversation turned flirty as it always did.

"I still can’t understand how someone so meticulous as you ends up lighting fires so easily. It’s like you do it on purpose."

”Believe me, I don’t understand it myself. I told you, the stove just hates me. I promise I was really careful this time. And I thought the tenth time might be the charm.” Zach stands from his seat to lean on the counter next to Chris, where he’s now filling a form he took out from his jacket.

"The evidence points otherwise."

”I promise!” he poked the other man on the ribs in retaliation and Chris jumped away with a laugh. “And besides, I always have you to look after me, don’t I?”

"You’re not doing this on purpose, are you?" Chris raised his eyebrow quizzically at him.

"You really think I’d do this on purpose?" He looked at Chris, leaning closer to him as to whisper a secret. "You’re hot…but not that hot.”

"Oh, really?" Zach only smirked, leaning closer still until he could feel the heat coming off Chris’s body. It was all he could do not to run his hands down those toned arms. Chris turned serious for a moment. "You already have my number, you know. You don’t have to keep on lighting your kitchen on fire to see me."

"Well, it might just be that I end up taking you up on the offer next time."

Chris raised his eyes to look at him, and smiled, placing his left hand over Zach’s on the counter as he finished filling out the form.

Chris ends up taking him to a cooking class at the community center for their first date a couple of days after and Zach can’t stop laughing the entire night. Three months later, he cooks Nonna’s lasagna for Chris. And if the lasagna is only slightly burnt but salvageable this time? It’s all Chris’s fault for distracting him with kisses.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr as llongwayfromhome :)


End file.
